Friday’s schedule was much busier than normal due to Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving (is it an official holiday in the US now, or is it simply understood that workers will take the day off there?) It also meant that most games had earlier-than-normal start times, so hopefully your lineup was set in time. There will also be plenty of tired teams on Saturday, with 20 teams playing the second game of back-to-backs! More injuries? I hope not, but it seems inevitable that more are on the way to mess with your fantasy team.
A few fantasy teams probably missed the announcements that both David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha would not dress for Friday’s game against the Rangers. Both are considered day-to-day after getting “banged up” during Wednesday’s game. The Bruins play again today (Saturday), so you should probably prepare to have other options in your lineup. At least you should have a little more notice this time.
No Pastrnak, no problem for Morgan Geekie. He continues to score goals at will, potting his 18th of the season on Friday. All of Geekie’s six points in his last five games have been in the form of goals. With a shooting percentage of 26.9%, Geekie is probably a sell very high if you can. It doesn’t sound like linemate Pastrnak will be out for a long time, but Geekie’s scoring could plummet if that’s the case. The fact that Geekie’s icetime and resulting shot totals have increased gradually over the past few seasons should help his cause going forward.
In the Rangers’ 6-2 win over Boston, Artemi Panarin scored a goal and added three assists. That gives Panarin seven points over his last four games and 19 points over his last 12 games. He is also back to the point-per-game mark (26 PTS in 26 GP) after a sluggish start that had us wondering whether the aging curve had hit. Following a bunch of long-term extensions recently signed by top players, Panarin is currently the top scorer among potential 2026 unrestricted free agents and will be looking for another big payday.
Adam Fox picked up three assists in this game. Fox has nine points (all assists) over his last five games and is just a point shy of the point-per-game mark (25 PTS in 26 GP).
Mika Zibanejad scored two power-play goals while taking seven shots in this game. Zibanejad is up to six points in his last five games.
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Darren Raddysh is taking full advantage of the icetime and power-play time he is receiving as a result of Victor Hedman‘s injury. Raddysh scored a power-play goal and added two assists with four shots in 24 minutes of icetime in the Lightning’s 6-3 win over Detroit. Raddysh now has 10 points over his last seven games, which makes him worth adding in many leagues (23% Yahoo/47% Fantrax).
Raddysh was in and out of the lineup earlier this season, so I’m not sold on him continuing to be this hot once Hedman returns. Keep in mind that the Lightning are also without Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak at the moment, so Raddysh’s icetime should drop significantly once all are healthy. But for now, he’s a strong short-term add.
Also in the Bolts’ win, Yanni Gourde scored a pair of goals. He has points in back-to-back games.
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The Midseason Guide will be available on January 8. More information below.
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Minnesota ended Colorado’s 10-game win streak in a shootout on Friday, now having won seven games in a row themselves. Jesper Wallstedt continued his fine play, allowing just two goals on 41 shots. Wallstedt now has a six-game personal win streak, all of which have been quality starts. He and Filip Gustavsson have been alternating starts recently in what has become one of the top goalie tandems in the league.
Kirill Kaprizov scored two of the Wild goals, extending his goal streak to four games. With 16 goals this season, Kaprizov is hanging around the race for the goal scoring lead.
Despite the loss, Colorado still has only one regulation loss in 24 games. That is one impressive run.
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Leo Carlsson incurred a minor speed bump in mid-November with no points over a three-game stretch, but since then he has added more to his breakout season. Carlsson scored a goal and added two assists in Anaheim’s 5-4 shootout win over Los Angeles, extending his point streak to five games. With 33 points in 24 games, Carlsson continues to find himself in the top 10 in scoring. Want to know if the hot starts from Carlsson, Geekie, and others seems sustainable? Rick Roos’ recent Fantasy Hockey Poll will give you some insight.
With an assist on Friday, Beckett Sennecke has extended his point streak to six games. The 19-year-old is only 14 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, so he is a Duck that you could consider streaming on off nights in single-season leagues. That also doesn’t speak to his upside in keeper leagues as the 2024 third overall pick.
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Jake Allen pitched a difficult 42-save shutout against the Sabres on Friday. Allen’s ratios (2.27 GAA, .919 SV%) are noticeably better than Jacob Markstrom‘s (3.56 GAA, .874 SV%), which should mean that Allen is deserving of more starts. Markstrom should start the second of back-to-backs today (Saturday) against Philadelphia, but this could be a goalie situation to watch beyond that. Markstrom has the much larger cap hit compared to Allen, which means that Markstrom should receive at least half of the starts regardless of how he plays unless his struggles extend beyond the short term. Despite the rough season numbers, Markstrom has quality starts in back-to-back games.
Arseny Gritsyuk scored two of the Devils’ goals. The 24-year-old has 12 points in 24 games in his first NHL season.
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Expected to compete for the first overall pick early in the season, the Flames have turned it around to some degree with wins in four of their past five games. Two Flames in particular are on a heater, so to speak.
With a goal and two assists in the 5-3 in Florida, Nazem Kadri now has 10 points in his last six games. Kadri also took eight shots on net while going 8-for-12 in the faceoff circle. Kadri will be sought after if the Flames do become sellers, but recent comments from team president Don Maloney seem to indicate that Calgary will not go the rebuild route.
Rasmus Andersson was also on the trade block before the season. If the Flames are still interested in trading the 2026 UFA, then he may be raising the Flames’ asking price. With two assists on Friday, Andersson now has 12 points over his last seven games. Andersson has also been moved onto the Flames’ top power play, where four of his 12 points over those seven games have come from. Most of Andersson’s advanced stats indicate some kind of regression, while the veteran defenseman has seen his season-by-season point totals decline in each of the previous three seasons entering this season. That could make him a sell-high.
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Kyle Palmieri left Friday’s game with a lower-body injury that will probably result in him missing games. After the game, coach Patrick Roy said that the injury doesn’t look good, although it is still being evaluated. As he was leaving the ice, Palmieri managed to pick up one of the most bizarre assists that you’ll ever see. That is one heck of a play while in all that pain.
One of the funniest assists you’ll ever see 😭
An injured Kyle Palmieri gets stuck behind the play, pickpockets an unsuspecting Flyer, and sets up a goal before heading to the room 💀 pic.twitter.com/Hxw5wagZV4
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 29, 2025
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Brady Tkachuk returned to the Senators’ lineup on Friday after being sidelined since mid-October with an injured thumb. Tkachuk was up to his usual multicategory dominance in this game, registering an assist along with eight shots and three hits. Tkachuk has yet to score a goal in four games this season, but that should change soon enough.
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The Canadiens announced on Friday that they have signed Mike Matheson to a five-year, $30 million extension. Matheson receives a small raise on the $4.875 million cap hit that he currently earns, with the extension keeping him under contract until 2031, when he will be 37 years of age. That might seem like a long time, but that is the price to pay for a steady two-way defenseman who checks a lot of boxes for the Habs in the here and now.
Matheson followed up his contract signing with an assist in Friday’s 4-1 win over Vegas. He now has six points in his last five games and 15 points in 23 games (0.65 PTS/GP), which is an improved pace over last season (0.39 PTS/GP). Since he lost his spot on the top power play to offensive dynamo Lane Hutson, Matheson’s offensive ceiling has been lowered significantly.
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In a matchup against his hometown team (Winnipeg), Seth Jarvis recorded a hat trick while taking eight shots in a 5-1 win for the Hurricanes. Jarvis now has six points in his last five games, while his 15 goals places him in the top 10 league-wide in that category. Jarvis should receive consideration for Team Canada for the Olympics, just as he did for the Four Nations last season.
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Jakob Chychrun scored a goal in the Capitals’ 4-2 win over Toronto, extending his point streak to 10 games. Over those 10 games, Chychrun has racked up 13 points. On top of that, Chychrun has a five-game goal streak… as a defenseman. His 23 points in 25 games places him in the top 5 in scoring among defensemen. Only Zach Werenski has more shots among defensemen than Chychrun (87 SOG).
For the Leafs, William Nylander was not in the lineup due to illness.
One bright light for the Leafs in an otherwise down season has been Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who with an assist extended his point streak to eight games. He has registered a single point in each of those eight games.
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Sidney Crosby scored a pair of goals in the Penguins’ 4-3 overtime win over the Blue Jackets. Sid the Kid (but not a kid anymore) has maintained a point-per-game pace (25 PTS in 23 GP), while he remains in the top 10 in goals (15 G).
Kris Letang scored the overtime winner and added an assist for the Pens. Letang broke a five-game point drought with the two point-effort, while the goal was his first in over a month (October 25). Unlike Crosby, Letang shouldn’t be universally rostered at this point of his career.
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Luke Evangelista scored a goal and added an assist in the Predators’ 4-3 win over Chicago. Evangelista now has back-to-back games with two points and a plus-3 rating, and he leads the Preds with a plus-5 ranking. I recently turned down a trade offer in a salary cap keeper league that would have sent me Evangelista for my Jack Quinn. Did I make the right move? I still think I did, but time will tell.
Ryan O’Reilly also registered a goal and an assist, giving him five points and a plus-5 over his last two games. O’Reilly and Evangelista have formed a line with Steven Stamkos, who also has back-to-back multipoint games. The Predators have struggled again this season, but maybe this line can generate something positive as they try to build off back-to-back wins. As it stands, O’Reilly, Stamkos, and Jonathan Marchessault (lower-body injury, out Friday) all seem like obvious trade candidates.
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Over the first month of the season, Jason Robertson scored just three goals (but recorded 11 assists) over his first 16 games. Over his last nine games, Robertson has scored 12 goals, including a goal in the Stars’ 4-3 win over Utah. The recent run has placed Robertson in the top 10 in both goals (15) and points (32).
With a power-play goal on Friday, Wyatt Johnston is the first player to reach 10 power-play goals this season. No other player has more than 7 PPG. Only teammate Mikko Rantanen has more power-play points in the entire league than Johnston (16 PPP). Not surprisingly, the Stars have the most power-play goals (27 PPG) and the highest power-play efficiency (31.8%) of any team this season.
Clayton Keller was in the Mammoth lineup on Friday even though his father unexpectedly passed away on Thursday night. Condolences to the Keller family on their tragic loss.
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